The eighteenth sunday after pentecost
Shepherd
of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)
Mark 9:30-37
30 They
left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know
where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to
them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will
kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not
understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. 33 They came
to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing
about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had
argued about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the
Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the
servant of all.” 36 He took a little child whom he placed among them.
Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of
these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not
welcome me but the one who sent me.” (NIV)
We hear on the news that
ongoing drought is going to mean less corn production, and with less corn being
produced, then all the products that utilize corn in any way are going to go up
in price, which means we’re going to be hit in the pocketbook. Oh, and I suppose it also means that
farmers stand to lose money on this year’s crop, and that with less corn being
produced – a basic food source all over the world – more people are likely to
die of starvation as a result in certain parts of the world. But the farmers and those starving
aren’t first on our minds; we are, and how this will inconvenience us. A jumper on one of the overpasses on
the highway has caused that section of the highway to be closed down. Because that was going to be exactly
where I needed to drive, now I have to take a longer way to get where I was
going. The thought that someone is
considering taking his life – well, that isn’t as pressing a concern. My car is going to be in the shop
another day because the mechanic who was supposed to finish it up didn’t come
in to work today. I’m thinking
about how that means another day of shifting my schedule and depending on
others for rides, but I never stopped to consider think about whether or not
all is OK for the mechanic who didn’t show up, because I didn’t know that his
little girl had to have a life-saving procedure done at the hospital. We have a
pretty egocentric view on life, don’t we?
We tend to put self first, and well, everyone else can just fall into
line behind us.
It even happens within our
families, doesn’t it? Even there
we can have a tendency to be very self-serving. A child helps with chores, so long as there is some sort of
reward in it for him; but when no reward is involved, such help is hard to come
by. There’s one more piece of
pizza in the fridge, so we grab it before someone else gets it. Siblings go to great lengths to make
sure that everything is fair when it comes to food/snack portions, not because
they care about brother or sister getting enough, but because they want to make
sure that they don’t get short-changed.
Husbands and wives, we do it too, when we willingly give approval to an
activity that the spouse wants to do, because we know that it means we’ll get
to what we want to do another time.
Let’s face it: human nature cares about self first and foremost, and
that reality is just as likely to show up in the home as it is anywhere else.
This morning Jesus seeks to
address that issue of selfishness, an issue that really is at the core of so
much of what’s wrong in each of us and in the world and in our families. Our own selfishness can have just as
negative an impact on the family as any number of external influences from the
secular world. As we wrap up our
“Fortifying the Family” series, we see how essential it is to put family
first. If we are going to
strengthen our families, then they need to become a bigger priority in our
lives than even our own self. By
default then, putting family first means a willingness to put self second, or
third, or fourth, and so on. May God guide us with his grace this morning as we
seek to put Family First.
You aren’t the first to have
issues with putting yourself first.
Jesus’ disciples were concerned with the very same thing. We don’t know exactly what sparked the
conversation, but at some point along the journey to Capernaum, there was some
discussion about who among the Twelve was the greatest. With the recent mountain top experience
of the Transfiguration for the inner circle of three, some may have been
inquiring about pecking order.
There is sufficient evidence
that the disciples were aware that they shouldn’t have been arguing about such
a thing as who was the greatest among them. Feigning ignorance, Jesus asked them, “What were you
arguing about on the road?” (v.33). Mark tells us that they kept quiet
(v.34). They didn’t answer
Jesus. Why not? Couldn’t Jesus have settled the debate
right then and there about who among them was the greatest? So why wouldn’t they just tell
him what they had been discussing?
More than likely, it’s because they knew deep down inside that they
shouldn’t have been discussing it.
They may very well have been ashamed that they were talking about such a
childish thing. Or, it may be that
they had some sort of an inkling that Jesus’ idea of greatness didn’t match
their own perception of what greatness truly was.
Supporting this might be
their reaction to Jesus’ recently repeated revelation about what was going to
happen to him. Jesus said, “The
Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him,
and after three days he will rise” (v.31). Pretty
heavy stuff. Yet note their
response: “But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to
ask him about it” (v.32). Why the fear? Why not ask Jesus to explain things further? Maybe they didn’t want to look foolish,
thinking Jesus would expect them to get it by this point. Or maybe they were afraid they wouldn’t
like Jesus’ answer if they asked him to further explain the details about what
was going to happen, including the part about one of them betraying Jesus. Or, maybe the topic of betrayal,
suffering, and death didn’t really fit their paradigm of greatness. If that was the case, it might also
explain their silence when Jesus asked them what they were debating on the
road.
Finally, their reasons for
discussing such a topic and then avoiding it when Jesus brought it up again are
not as important as how Jesus responded next. What was his response?
He said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very
last, and the servant of all” (v.35). Realize how backwards
Jesus’ words must have sounded. In
about a month we’ll have a presidential election, but we don’t expect the man
with the fewest votes to get elected.
We don’t crown that last-place team as champion. We don’t assume that the janitor
cleaning the rest room is the CEO of the company. No, last isn’t first, and the servant isn’t the greatest –
not by our way of thinking, at least.
However, if we set our way of
thinking aside for just a moment and consider Jesus’ life in connection with
the words he spoke here, the true picture of greatness starts to take
shape. Jesus is first in every sense
of the word. He was here first,
before any of us, before anything was brought into existence at Creation. As far as might, rule, authority,
honor, glory, wisdom, understanding, and on and on and on, Jesus is first. In fact he is both the first and the
last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.
But for a time he set it all
aside and willingly became last.
The Master became the Servant.
The Greatest became the Least.
And here is what sets Christianity apart from every religion devised by
men: no man-made religion could conceive of a God who became least of all. Why? Because no religion of men could ever conceive of
grace. For grace compelled God to
make himself the very last for you in Christ, so that you could be first. All that he is and was he set aside for
a time, to become last and servant of all, that he might suffer in your place;
that he might bear your sin of selfishness; that he might bear your guilt, and
that he might finally die in your place to clear your record of sin and pay for
it completely. And by his
Resurrection we have the assurance that the Father fully accepted the Son’s
sacrifice, and that his determination to become last so that we might become
first was not in vain.
The First became the
Last. The Master became the
Servant. Look to Jesus and there
you see what you will not see anywhere else you look; there you will see Godly
greatness. It is indeed a rarity
that anyone would be willing to be last or to become a servant for others, but
even more so that God himself would do it. Our Sovereign Lord, who deserves only to be served, became
the servant. The Ruler of the
heavens and the earth, before whom no one else has a right to stand, humbly
placed himself lower than all others, becoming last so that we might benefit
first from his sacrifice.
Do we want to fortify our
families? Then look to Christ, who
has made them strong by putting them first and making himself last. And see in his sacrifice not only reason
to give thanks, but reason to show thanks, by imitating that greatness and
becoming last and servant to your family.
Look at your spouse, your children, your parents, not only as blessings
that God has given to take care of you and to work together with as a family,
but as individuals whom God has placed into your life for you to serve. Appreciate the varied ways God allows
you to demonstrate your love to him and to them by putting them first and
joyfully serving. Dads, serve them
first and foremost with the Word of God, for nothing is more important, but
serve them with your hands as well, and with your time. Mothers, you deserve the greatest of
praise, since you are more naturally inclined toward serving your family in so
many ways. Find joy in that
privilege that God has given you in helping to manage the household and daily
activities. Children, serve your
parents without having to be asked.
Do so in love and obedience, and live in harmony with your siblings, for
God has given them specially to you as your brother, as your sister. Love them and serve them as God’s gift
to you.
And if you want to strengthen
your family at home, do the same thing for your family at church. Aren’t the two related? Aren’t they connected – your family
that dwells under the same roof and your family that gathers in God’s
house? One is bound by flesh and
blood; the other finds its family ties in faith and in spirit. Both are opportunities to place
ourselves last by serving others first.
Respect and honor your church leaders. Serve them by speaking well of them, but also by assisting
them when needed and by praying for them and encouraging them and supporting
them. Show thanks to those who
serve on Boards, not just verbally, but by asking how you might help. Thank an usher. Send a card to our organists. Surprise a teacher with a gift. Sign up to serve refreshments or clean
the church. Remember that we are
not here just to Seek the Lost, but also to Serve the Found, and that means
serving your church family.
See those that share the same
roof at home with you and those that gather in the same sanctuary with you as
the blessed family God has brought into your life. Then, just as Jesus graciously did for each of us, become
last by serving them first. May
God bless our efforts at Fortifying our Families as we put them first. Amen.
“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and
the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the
Christian it makes.” (Luther)
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